Walt Disney-owned ABC said it was pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live off the air, after remarks by the show’s late-night host about Charlie Kirk’s assassination sparked harsh criticism by the head of the FCC.
Reuters
ABC indefinitely suspended late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel’s show Wednesday over comments on the assassination of Charlie Kirk following a threat by the U.S. communications regulator against the network’s owner, the Walt Disney Company.
Mr. Kimmel is only the highest-profile figure in a wave of firings and suspensions roiling the country following Mr. Kirk’s killing, drawing accusations of censorship and cancel culture against U.S. President Donald Trump, his administration and supporters.
The President celebrated ABC’s move and urged NBC to fire Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, two other late-night hosts who have mocked Mr. Trump.
“Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social late Wednesday. “That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”
On his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, on Monday, Mr. Kimmel suggested that the suspect in Mr. Kirk’s death might be a Trump supporter.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” he said.
Mr. Kimmel also aired a clip of Mr. Trump responding to a reporter’s question about how he was holding up in the wake of Mr. Kirk’s death, in which Mr. Trump rapidly pivoted to talking up his plan to build a new White House ballroom. “He’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction,” Mr. Kimmel quipped. “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
Trump vows crackdown on left-wing groups after Charlie Kirk’s assassination
At the time the show aired, police had not said anything about the suspected assassin’s motives and some people online speculated that he was part of a right-wing group that found Mr. Kirk insufficiently conservative. Police subsequently said the suspect, Tyler Robinson, had left-of-centre politics.
On Wednesday, Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, threatened to investigate Disney, which could lead to broadcasters being stripped of their licenses, and also urged local stations to refuse to air Mr. Kimmel’s show.
“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney. We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Mr. Carr told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. “Disney needs to see some change here, but the individual stations that are taking their content, it’s time for them to step up and say ‘this garbage, to the extent that that’s what comes down the pipe, in future isn’t something that we think serves the needs of our local communities.’”
A woman wears a Statue of Liberty costume as she holds an image of a broken heart, outside the El Capitan Entertainment Centre, where Jimmy Kimmel Live is recorded for broadcast, in Los Angeles, on Wednesday.Daniel Cole/Reuters
Nexstar Media Group, which owns 32 ABC affiliate stations, then announced that it would pull Jimmy Kimmel Live from its lineup. Andrew Alford, the head of the company’s broadcasting division, described Mr. Kimmel’s comments about Mr. Kirk as “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.” By Wednesday evening, ABC had suspended Mr. Kimmel’s show entirely.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez accused the Trump administration of censorship. “An inexcusable act of political violence by one disturbed individual must never be exploited as justification for broader censorship and control. This Administration is increasingly using the weight of government power to suppress lawful expression,” she said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, described Mr. Kimmel’s punishment as part of a “coordinated” and “dangerous” campaign to silence critical voices. The Republican Party “does not believe in free speech. They are censoring you in real time,” he wrote on X.
Said MSNBC host Chris Hayes: “The countries where comedians can’t mock the leader on late night TV are not really ones you want to live in.”
The action against Mr. Kimmel is part of a broader clampdown that has seen Americans face professional consequences for comments on Mr. Kirk over the past week. The comments have ranged from making light of Mr. Kirk’s death to criticizing his politics. Those either fired or suspended include some public figures – such as MSNBC pundit Matthew Dowd, Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah and comic book author Gretchen Felker-Martin – as well as many regular people: airline employees, teachers, a Secret Service agent, a Marine, a university administrator, and a video game developer, among others.
The firings have been spurred on by MAGA influencers, who have worked to collate social media comments critical of Mr. Kirk with information on the commenters’ employers. Trump administration officials have also been involved. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell and Navy Secretary John Phelan warned of consequences for employees found to have celebrated Mr. Kirk’s death. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said foreign nationals in the U.S. could face immigration consequences for “praising, rationalizing or making light” of Mr. Kirk’s death.
The President also suggested this week that he might target media organizations after an ABC reporter asked him about the line between freedom of speech and hate speech.
“We’ll probably go after people like you, because you treat me unfairly. It’s hate. You have a lot of hate in your heart. Maybe they’ll come after ABC,” he said.
On his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Mr. Kimmel suggested that the suspect in Mr. Kirk’s death might be a Trump supporter.Mike Blake/Reuters
On Monday, the President launched a US$15-billion libel suit against the New York Times for articles that suggested he had been a poor businessman and broke tax laws.
Mr. Trump has long called for various people who criticize him or with whose politics he disagrees to be fired. In July, after CBS announced the upcoming cancellation for financial reasons of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, a frequent Trump critic, the President posted on social media: “I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next.”
Trump says he’s designating anti-fascist Antifa movement as a terrorist organization
During last year’s election campaign, Mr. Trump threatened to have the broadcast licenses of ABC, CBS and NBC revoked for what he said was unfair coverage of him. Earlier this year, ABC and CBS agreed to pay US$15-million and US$16-million, respectively, to settle lawsuits brought by the President. He is also suing the Wall Street Journal over coverage of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and child sex trafficker.
The President and members of his administration, including Vice-President JD Vance and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, have also said in the wake of Mr. Kirk’s killing that they will crack down on NGOs that they accuse of funding violent protests. Mr. Vance this week suggested that the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Foundations are two groups that may be targeted. There is no evidence either one funds violent protests. The latter was founded by George Soros, a billionaire who funds Democratic political candidates.
Late on Wednesday, Mr. Trump, who is in Britain on a state visit, posted to Truth Social that he would designate Antifa as a “MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.” He also said he would push for an investigation of unspecified groups he accused of funding Antifa, which is a loose anti-fascist movement.
